


Conspire to Ignite

by botanistlester (Skeletonflowers)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alien Planet, Aliens, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Discrimination, Enemies to Lovers, First Kiss, Forbidden Love, Getting Together, Gore, Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Character Death, Outer Space, Phandom Big Bang, Phandom Big Bang 2016, Racism, Torture, Violence, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-31 01:20:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8557102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeletonflowers/pseuds/botanistlester
Summary: Virtuo and Nefaris have been in a war for hundreds of years, bringing death and sorrow to their people. After the Nefarians reign an attack on Virtuo, Phil is captured and brought to an unfamiliar planet where he is tortured for information. He gets assigned a prison guard named Dan, a cold and indifferent Nefarian who is prideful of his planet and always does as he’s told. Phil takes everything that comes to him without complaint, not knowing that his actions are slowly cracking down Dan’s hard exterior.Written for the Phandom Big Bang 2016





	

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: torture (pretty graphic), lots of violence, war, blood/gore, minor character death, denial of food, mentions of sex (but no actual sex), racism, discrimination

The ground was shaking.

It was the only thing that registered in Phil's mind as soon as his mum had shoved him into the kitchen cabinet, giving him a pair of earplugs and shutting the door with a kiss on the forehead. Her eyes were sad as she murmured, "Put these in, honey. Cover your ears please and don't come out until I tell you it's alright again."

He tried to tell her that it was alright, that he knew how to fight, but she just smiled sadly at him and shut the cabinet door. After many moments of contemplating, upon hearing a high pitched scream that rattled his bones, he crammed the plugs into his ears and curled into a small ball.

Despite blocking out most sound, some noise still poked through Phil's eardrums. Loud crashes and thumps. Booming and metallic clanking. Screaming. He couldn’t seem to shake the noises from his head, shivering and sniffling when they emerged through the cracks in the cupboard, leaking through the styrofoam nestled in his ears. They wouldn’t go away and he pressed his palms against his ears, trying to stop the screams melting into his mind.

It was no secret that they were in a war. It'd been obvious for hundreds of years, taught about in each school since primary education. Their home planet, Virtuo, has been in disagreement with the neighboring planet, Nefaris, for Phil's entire existence. From a young age, he's been taught what Nefarian people look like, act like, and how they attack.

Tanned skin with a golden sheen, eyes black as coal, hair like ringlets of mud. They are ruthless killers that threaten the peace of the Virtuous, attacking with loud explosions and inhumane weapons. Kill upon meeting. Do not trust these creatures for they will be Virtuo's doom.

He didn't know how long he had been inside the cabinet for, or how long he had shut his eyes, trying to keep out the noises of fighting around him. After what seemed like ages, everything stopped.

Stillness.

Phil took his hands away from his ears and listened, trying to find evidence of life nearby. He heard nothing, but that could also be due to his loud breathing and his shaking lungs. "Mum?" He whispered, not knowing if he expected an answer or not. His mother had told him not to go out of the cupboard until she said it was okay, but it's been hours and all that was happening was silence.

He cleared his throat and tried again, louder this time. "Mum?" His voice was shaking, trembling like his hands. There was something wrong. Maybe it was the fact that the air was still, or that his ears were ringing with silence, but something had changed and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

The cupboard door flung open. Phil’s eyes squinted, attempting to adjust to the light, but he could only see two pairs of hands clamping down on his arms and legs. He flinched away, shuffling further backward and letting out a whimper when he saw those ringlets of brown curls and the golden skin, black eyes like pools of darkness glaring down at him.

"Let me go!" Phil screamed, struggling against their grasp. There was a pain in his wrist when one of them twisted his arm painfully, rendering him helpless as they dragged him into the light. Thankfully, Phil could still move it, twisting it around as he tried to get them to let go, so it wasn’t broken. Even so, his eyes were watering, a sob clawing its way out of his throat, and he was sure he was screaming, but he couldn’t quite tell when his ears were ringing. “Mum!” He cried out. “Mum, where are you?! Help me, please! MUM!”

He barely had time to register what was around him, his loud screeching muffled by a large hand covering his mouth and a blindfold making its way over his eyes - but not before he saw the mess around him, a body lying mangled on the tiled floor with blood pooling out of her stomach and the light lost from her eyes. There was broken glass on the floor, bullet holes in the wall, and her famous bow and arrow clenched loosely in her hand.

“Mum,” he whimpered. He had stopped struggling now, his vision dark and his breath ragged. He couldn’t get that image out of his head, that picture of his mother lying dead on the floor in front of him. She had died for him, died trying to protect him, and he had to go and ruin it by calling out her name.

She had died for nothing.

His tears were soaking into the blindfold, his eyes damp with the salty cloth. He didn’t know where the Nefarians were taking him, but they were leading him down a pathway that was hard to walk through as he was stumbling on anything that caught on his foot. Noises were making their way out of his throat on their own accord and rough hands were pushing his back and shoulders in a direction unbeknownst to him.

He was shoved onto the floor, his head knocking against something painfully. His hands were put behind his back and cold metal locked them into place. He tried not to be confused about what it was, but the Nefarians were speaking in a tongue that he didn’t quite understand and it caused his head to swim anyways, wondering what the hell was going to happen to him and what they had just wrapped around his wrists. There was a clinking noise, followed by his hands being forced backwards, locked in place. He was now unable to move.

One of the main differences between the Virtuous and Nefarians was the choice of weaponry used. Virtuous do not use any sort of machinery, instead opting for bows and arrows, swords, and daggers that could be made with simple nature and welding. Beside that, they were able to learn different sorts of light spells and enchantments that allowed them to fight from far away.

Nefarians did not have this power. To overcome the power of the Virtuous, they started implementing weaponry that used brute force and fire, guns and bombs that destroyed homes and killed upon contact. Phil had never fully understood what exactly that meant until he saw the gunshot wounds in his mother’s body.

He didn’t understand how a species could be so cruel.

Phil cocked his head to the side when a whirring noise filled the air. He suspected it to be the rocket that he was on. His suspicions were being confirmed when the metal floor started to shake, ringing the chains that were holding him in place. The Nefarians were talking in a strange tongue, the sounds coming from their mouths a mixture of clicks and harsh noises. He briefly wondered what he sounded like to them, his beautiful and flowing language, before realizing that he didn’t particularly care what the enemy thought.

“Hey,” he rasped, clearing his throat to speak clearly. The foreign language stopped. “Where are you taking me? What are you doing with me?”

A sharp ringing filled his ears and his cheeks became red with embarrassment. They were laughing at him. Laughter sounding like high pitched screeching and metal scraping on metal, Phil had never heard anything more repulsing. If his language could be described as the tinkling of bells, then the Nefarian's sounded like the screeching of dying animals.

He didn’t know how long he had been sitting, vision black, waiting for his fate, before the entire machine went still and a shuffling sound notified Phil of people edging closer to him. As he thought, hands grasped onto his shoulders, shoving him forward and lurching him into a standing position. They were walking and Phil felt the air change, signifying their exit. The air turned cold, as if a cloud was ever looming over the sky, dry as a cracking leaf.

Did Nefarius even have leaves? Phil wouldn’t know. The last he heard, the planet was a barren wasteland.

He was soon shoved on something that could only be described as a platform. Phil’s hands were cuffed to the surface, along with his legs, and a thick leather strap was used to pin his head down. He yelped, struggling, despite the fact that it would be of no use.

He was in their territory now and they could do whatever they wanted to him.

His heart was pounding erratically, thudding in his ears, his blood rushing through his veins. He was trembling, the clanking noise of metal objects sounding to his right. A hand gripped his head and there was a distant chatter that he couldn’t understand.

Oh gods, what has he gotten himself into?

Not even a moment later, there was something metal prodding into his ear and he screamed in agony as his head exploded with pain. He tried to lurch away but the straps were holding him down, deeming him immobile. There were tears running down his face and he vaguely remembered calling for his mother through his blubbering mess.

And was that blood running down the side of his face?

The blindfold was taken from his face, his tears becoming free to roll down his cheeks and onto the metal surface beneath him. It took him a moment to adjust to the light and take in the faces hovering over him. Dark eyes, dark hair, nothing new. Their faces were cold as stone.

“Virtuous,” one of the men chimed, and it took Phil a moment to recognize that he was able to understand what he was saying. “Can you understand my words?”

Phil nodded as best as he could although his lip was trembling pathetically. His ear was still throbbing with pain and he was having a bit of trouble hearing, as if everything was wrapped in a layer of cotton wool. “What did you do to me?” he whimpered.

“I put a translator into your ear so you are able to automatically translate our words. You are able to understand and fluently speak over 174 languages now.” Phil couldn’t deny that was quite amazing, but he was a little miffed that they hadn’t used any anesthetics. Then again, why would they use that on the enemy? “What is your name and which district of Virtuo are you from?”

The districts refer to the seven areas of Virtuo, otherwise known as the Seven Virtues. Humility, Kindness, Abstinence, Patience, Diligence, Chastity, and Liberality. “Phil Lester from the Kindness District.”

“That explains the lack of a fight,” the man said, followed by a round of snickers from the other Nefarians in the room. He grabbed something from a metal table and Phil followed with his eyes, watching nervously as he wet a towel with antiseptic. He relaxed when the man began to clean the blood from around his ear, the pain going away with the red liquid. “I’m Dr. Catellier, from the Nefarian district of Pride.”

Phil pursed his lips, remembering from his history textbooks that Nefarius had named their districts after the Seven Deadly Sins. Copy cats. “Are we in Pride now, then?” he asked politely.

Another round of laughter. “No,” Dr. Catellier said. There was a glint in his eyes as he leaned over Phil and began to undo his restraints, immediately cuffing Phil’s hands again once he was standing. He kept a sturdy grip on him, making sure he didn’t go anywhere. “You’re in Anger.”

Phil’s eyes widened and his jaw tightened. Anger? They’ve got to be kidding him. Now that he’s able to look around, he notes that he is in a chamber with rows upon rows of what looks like jail cells arranged in a circle. In the middle of the circle is the metal table in which he had just been laying on, lights focusing on it as spotlights would. He noted a few people - his people - sitting on the floors of the cells, just staring out at him in silence. Watching. “Oh god, no,” he whispered, backing away.

He was stopped by Dr. Catellier, who tightened a grip on his arm and shoved him forward, right into one of the cells. There were hands grabbing him, pinning him down as a metal cuff was clasped around his ankle, a long chain connecting his ankle to the wall. The door slammed closed before he could even react, the sound of a lock clicking resonating through the walls. He didn’t even stop to wonder why he had to be chained to the wall if he was locked between closed doors. “Your personal guard will be down shortly to accompany you,” Dr. Catellier mused. He was smiling and Phil couldn’t find what was so funny when his chest felt like it was going to collapse. “I believe it’s Daniel. A good choice indeed. He should get you settled in and tell you all about what we need from you.”

With that, the man turned and sauntered out of the room. He didn’t speak another word and the others - his sidekicks? - who had been present followed him out, their feet matching in pace and perfect time. Phil had never been close to an army, he’d lived a rather sheltered life with his mum, but he now knew what one looked like. He had never been so terrified in his life.

The cuff around his ankle rattled heavily as he slid down the cold cement wall. He could feel the metal biting into his skin, cutting, tearing, and tried to ignore it. He shut his eyes, shrouding the world in darkness. Maybe, just maybe, if he slept he could forget all about this. He could be back in his own bed, warm and protected from the cruelty of the world while the sound of birds chirping fluttered through his open window. A world void of gunshots and blood, void of the bombs, where he could sit on his roof without worrying about whether or not he would see another day.

Behind his closed eyelids he could see his mother’s face. But her face was cold, the life from her blue eyes gone, blood tangled in her silver blonde hair. He gagged, wrenching himself out of his dreamlike state to stare at the wall.

The wall was a much better sight than what he saw whenever he closed his eyes. It was dark, grey and colourless with cracks and ridges littering it randomly. Every so often he would come across something that looked like claw marks, but he averted his eyes and pretended not to see, attempting to maintain the obliviousness that he once had.

Phil didn’t know how long it had been before he heard the loud slam of a door and the clinking of metal on metal. He only glanced up through his hair when the door to his cell open, squinting against the bright light of a torch being pointed at him. “Hello?” he said hesitantly, his voice wavering a bit.

A condescending huff came from the figure and the light was finally moved out of Phil’s face so he could see the person barging into his new home. The man had the familiar golden skin, dark hair, and dark eyes, but there was a smirk on his lips that showed a large crater in his cheek. He was wearing dark clothing, as to be expected, contrasting greatly with Phil’s own light coloured apparel. “Evening,” the man replied cockily. His voice had that articulate lilt and Phil still wondered how he could understand him perfectly even though they were speaking different languages. Phil didn’t know if he should be impressed or frightened of his enemy planet’s technology. “Name, age, district?”

“I’m Phil from Kindness and I’ve seen twenty-five revolutions around the sun.”

He watched in curiosity as the man hummed. If it was any other person, it would be a noise of interest. But the man dropped something small by Phil’s foot, putting his hands on his waist and standing tall, smirking. He was looking down on him. “I’m Dan, from the Pride district.” He snickered as Phil brought his attention down to the item dropped by his foot. It was a mouldy bread roll. “Welcome to hell!” The words were spoken overly dramatically, Dan’s face morphed into a sneer. Phil didn’t really understand why he was saying his welcoming so sarcastically, but he didn’t comment on it. Maybe it was just the way the guard spoke or something.

Phil picked the bread up and set it by his side so that it was closer to him. He didn’t eat it, though. The thought of cramming something like that into his mouth only made him want to vomit. Looks as if he wasn’t going to be eating for a while. “Thank you,” he said politely. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Dan seemed slightly taken aback, his brow raising slightly before he seemed to shake himself out of it. “I suppose I’ll just get straight to the point then,” Dan said. He was pacing around the room, his black shoes pattering against the cement. Phil compared his shoes to his own bare feet and wondered why shoes were even necessary. “You’ve been taken from Virtuo as a way to get information about your home planet to achieve dominance and finally end this war. I expect you to give me everything I ask of you and for you to comply to my demands. Failure to do so will result in punishment. You’re mine now, and I expect you to treat me with respect as your higher-up. Sound good to you?”

Phil blinked slowly, trying to process the information. “I don’t have any information about Virtuo,” he said slowly. “None of importance, anyways.”

“Right,” Dan said. He was smirking, a somewhat neutral look that seemed more cruel than humorous when coming from him. Phil suddenly remembered a lesson from when he was a young child, one that had said pride was the root of all evil. Phil hadn’t taken it seriously back then but he could suddenly understand exactly what they had meant by that. He saw his life flash before his eyes. Dan nodded towards the bread that was delicately sitting, uneaten, by Phil’s side. “You gonna eat that?” he mused.

Phil felt his fingers tighten into fists. “No,” he stuttered.

Dan narrowed his eyes. He crouched down so that Phil was level with him, staring into dark eyes the colour of mud. He shivered, wondering how someone could be so terrifying. “Eat it,” Dan ordered. His face was stony, cruel. “When I come back in an hour, I expect that bread to be gone, and I expect you to be ready to tell me all of the information you know. And none of that ‘I don’t know anything’ bullshit. I’m not stupid, and I expect to be treated so.” He stood up and put his hands on his hips, sneering down at Phil. “See you later, Phil.”

With a loud bang, he slammed the bars behind him and walked away from Phil’s cell.

Phil could feel his head spinning with both exhaustion and hunger. Too much had happened today that he could barely think straight and his chest was constricting with such anxiety that it hurt to breathe. He eyed the mouldy bread beside him with such anger that he wouldn’t have been surprised if it had burst into flames. It didn’t, and Phil was minorly disappointed. His stomach growled in protest and he had the urge to tell it to shut up.

There was no way he was eating that piece of bread. No matter how hungry he was or who told him to.

Besides, Dan had acted as if Phil actually had any information, which was a shock in itself. Phil? Information? Please, he could barely remember the names of his friends half of the time. The idea of him harbouring relevant information towards his planet was rather hilarious. He couldn’t help but wonder what Dan would do to him once he revealed he literally had no information. Would he torture him? Feed him to the dogs? Kill him?

 

Phil felt nauseous just thinking about it, and it wasn’t just because he was hungry.

The bread roll was laughing at him dramatically and he picked it up and threw it. It bounced gingerly on the floor before landing about an inch outside of the cell. Dan was going to kill him, but he didn’t really seem to care much anymore. Even if Dan didn’t kill him, Phil would starve to death eventually and that seemed almost a much better solution than just being endlessly tortured.

As if he was being summoned, Dan suddenly appeared outside of Phil’s cage. His eyes dropped to the piece of bread lying unforgivingly on the floor and he tutted as if ashamed. Phil wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk from his face. “Looks as if you didn’t listen to my warnings,” Dan sighed. Phil watched as he slid the key into the lock and swung the door open. “If you give me some information, I might just let you off with a warning.”

Phil felt his stomach churn and bile rise in his throat. “I don’t have any information,” he replied quietly. He watched as an angry frown settled on Dan’s features, but tried to keep their gazes level as if trying to show just how much he was telling the truth. “The only things I can tell you are things to do with my personal life, but I am completely clueless about any secrets my world may been harbouring.”

“Shame.” Dan’s voice was flat, disappointed. Phil could feel himself start to shake as the man walked closer. “Looks as if I’ll just have to force it out of you then.” He pulled a remote out of his black robes and dangled it tauntingly in front of Phil’s face.

Phil furrowed his eyebrows. “What’s tha-?” He cut himself off with a yelp as Dan pressed the first button. His brain immediately felt as if it was being electrocuted and he whimpered, pressing his face into his knees as if that would help the pain. It didn’t, and he only registered that he was trembling when Dan eased up, turning off the terrible sensation of being electrocuted from the inside-out.

It seemed as if Dr. Catellier had forgotten to mention how the translation device was also an electrocution device.

Phil cursed his luck as he glanced up at Dan through wet eyelashes. “I’m telling the truth,” he pleaded. “Please don’t hurt me. I promise I don’t have anything to hide.”

Dan just pursed his lips and pressed the button again. Phil imagined it didn’t hurt as much that time, but it didn’t really work. He kept trying to persuade Phil in a voice like raw metal to come forth and just tell the truth, stating it would hurt less if he did so, but Phil couldn’t tell him anything since he didn’t know anything in the first place.

“Fine,” Dan snapped after what seemed like ages, eyes ablaze. He slammed the metal door behind him, leaving Phil a sweaty heap of pain on the floor. “Have it your way. It’ll only get worse from here on.”

Phil didn’t have to say anything back, the pain slowly subsiding into a dull headache. There was nothing he wanted to say anyways.

-

Phil didn’t know how long it had been, but he knew his stomach was twisting from the lack of food and his body was shaking nonstop now. He imagined it’d been a few days, a week at the most, and Dan hadn’t let up yet no matter how much Phil denied the fact that he didn’t have any information for him. Every time Phil would deny having any sort of information, Dan’s face would get more and more annoyed. He would take out the remote control from his pocket and turn up the shock a level higher each time Phil disobeyed. He refused to feed Phil anything but mouldy bread and there had been a few times where Phil had been handcuffed to the wall, arms above his head, for hours until his legs were jelly and the skin around his wrists was rubbed raw and bleeding.

Phil was just glad that Dan wasn’t from Anger. Dan never laid a finger on him, only using the torture device or the handcuffs when he wanted to punish Phil. He never hit him or kicked him, but he used other, more passive means to make him suffer. If Dan was from Anger rather than Pride, Phil reckoned that he would be a lot more harsh on him. And while Dan was sickeningly cruel, Phil appreciated the lack of hitting or kicking.

However, that wasn’t the case with Dr. Catellier.

A few times, the doctor had come in to check up on Phil, to see Dan’s progress, and his eyes darkened every time he saw that Phil still hadn’t given up his information. He was the worst of all, and Phil dreaded every time he would come in to see him. Sometimes he would play a game with Phil where he would ask questions and Phil would answer yes or no. If Phil was obviously lying, Dr. Catellier would take out a lighter and burn his skin. Other times he would grab Phil by the neck and choke him until he was gasping for air, bruises on his skin, or he would strap him to his table and see just how much pain Phil could take from the device in his ear before he passed out.

Dan was a hundred times better than Dr. Catellier was, and Phil was forever grateful that he only had to deal with the doctor a few hours per week. Otherwise, he didn’t know whether he would still be alive.

The metal doors screeched open and Phil looked up through heavy eyelashes at the familiar face of Dan. He noticed that Dan seemed more tired than usual, with dark bags under his eyes and a pale face.

“Are you alright?” Phil asked before he could stop himself.

Dan just gave him a long, flat look and flung something at him. It landed near Phil’s bare foot and he appraised it curiously. It was a small bread roll, one that looked utterly void of mould or bacteria (despite being thrown on the ground).

Phil opened and closed his mouth a few times, at a loss for words. “What…?” he asked, genuinely confused. Was Dan actually showing some kindness? Or was he just hallucinating from hunger?

“Just eat,” Dan snapped. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to meet Phil’s eyes. “I can’t have you dying on me without the rest of my information. It’d be a waste of a good source.”

Phil beamed at him, reaching over to pluck the roll from the ground. “Thanks, Dan,” he murmured. The bread was soft in his hands and easily pulled apart as he tore a few pieces off to stuff in his mouth. He moaned at the taste and his stomach rumbled happily.

Maybe it was just because he was happy, but that was definitely the best bread roll he’d ever eaten.

Things were a bit different after that. Phil couldn’t particularly understand why because Dan was the same old Dan except that he slipped fresh bread between Phil’s cellar bars when the other guards turned the other way. He still tortured Phil and he still was as cruel as he first was, but now he was giving Phil fresh baked bread and Phil couldn’t help but to be horribly confused.

Dan seemed tired, dark bags under his eyes that contrasted against golden skin. When Phil asked if he was alright, he shrugged it off and refused to answer the question.

Phil figured it was his pride not letting him express what he was truly feeling, especially to the enemy.

“Get up,” Dan ordered one day. He took out a silver key and unlocked the metal cuff from around Phil’s ankle. Phil looked at him quizzically but rose to his feet nonetheless. He hadn’t stood in days so he wobbled, unsteady, and Dan just watched as he stumbled on the floor, using the wall to brace himself. “Dr. Catellier agreed that you would most likely never give us information if you’re locked in this cellar. Most people crack almost as soon as we question them but it seems as if you’re too stubborn for your own good.”

Phil gaped at him, nearly falling to the ground once more in his shock. “You mean I’m-?”

“Going to be rooming with me, yes,” Dan cut him off flatly. He didn’t seem too thrilled about the idea. Before Phil could exit the cellar, Dan grabbed his arm and pulled him forward roughly, cuffing Phil’s hands in front of him. “A few ground rules, Phil. I live in a room provided by our government so I can easily press a button and have you executed if you so much as lay a finger on me. Don’t forget about the translator in your ear, either. I’ve been going easy on you for the past few weeks and if you make me mad, I won’t hesitate to make your brain mush. You’re sleeping on the floor by my bed so I can have full watch over you during the night. Lastly and most importantly, if you make one bad comment about Linguine, I will flay you alive.” Dan’s voice was so serious during the last point that it gave Phil shivers.

“Linguine?” Phil asked. He was silenced by a hard glare sent his way and the rough tugging of Dan yanking him out of the room by his handcuffs. As soon as they were out of the cell, Dan tugged a blindfold over Phil’s eyes and Phil nearly sighed with annoyance. He’d figured that if he was able to be out of that cage, he’d at least be able to see where he was being taken, but he supposed not. The only noises were the sound of echoing footsteps, Phil’s rattling handcuffs, and Dan grumbling under his breath the whole way.

Phil didn’t know how long they had been walking before he finally heard a door open and Dan brought them to a stop. His wrists were hurting from being tugged on so violently and he was pretty sure he’d stumbled enough to give himself bruises on both shins. Moments later, Dan was taking off the blindfold and handcuffs, and Phil was left to take in the room before him. It had all white walls with black furniture, a black technological box (Phil had learned in school that Nefarians called this a ‘television’), and a glass table. There were two rooms leading out of it, presumably a kitchen and a bedroom. “Needs a little colour, doesn’t it?” Phil mused.

Dan didn’t get the chance to answer, though, before there was something bolting out of the bedroom and launching itself at Phil’s feet. Phil let out a high pitched squeak and stumbled backwards, practically barrelling into Dan’s chest as he grappled for something to save him from whatever this thing was.

Like the other furniture in the room, this thing was all black with two beady eyes staring up at Phil. It was tiny, standing on all fours and coming up to Phil’s mid-calf. A slimy tongue slid out of the corner of it’s mouth, and there was something resembling a whine reverberating from it’s throat.

“What is that?” Phil gasped, cowering behind Dan and ignoring the death glare the Nefarian shot at him at the comment.

“Linguine,” he hissed. “You’ve seriously never seen a dog before?”

Phil tried to compose himself although his palms were sweating and his heart was pounding in his chest. He wondered when he became more afraid of tiny creatures than he was of Dan. Not like he’d really been afraid of Dan at all in the first place, if he’s being completely honest. In Phil’s opinion, Dan was just doing his job, doing what he was supposed to do for a living. Even despite how cruel Dan was supposed to be, Dan had always been strangely nice to Phil, showing that there was more to him than just what shows through his career. “A dog?” he asked slowly, shaking his head in confusion. He assumed this was a type of animal, a pet. Most of the pets at his home planet were not this big and they had wings and long beaks to help with hunting and overhead seeing. “I have never heard of such a creature.”

Dan sighed in exasperation and moved to crouch on the floor. Phil watched with fascination as his facial expression softened when he looked at the animal, reaching out a hand and scratching behind it’s ear. The thing - Linguine - licked at Dan’s hand and raised it’s head to meet his touch. “He likes his ears scratched. He won’t bite, contrary to what you might be thinking.”

And yes, was Phil thinking of that. He had seen rows of razor sharp teeth poking out beneath the pink tongue and was more than certain this thing could chew his hand off if it so wanted to. He shivered as he crouched next to Dan, stuffing his fears away as he reached out his hand toward the animal. Linguine sniffed at it and his tongue was slimy as he licked at Phil, seeming not to notice when Phil flinched at the gesture.

“That means he likes you,” Dan instructed. Phil had never heard his voice so gentle before. He concluded that Dan loved this creature very much to be talking in such a way. He started when Dan wrapped large fingers around his own pale wrist and brought his hand closer to Linguine. His fingers touched the black fur of the dog’s ears and the dog rolled his head to the side as he scratched at the area. “See? He’s nice.”

Phil relaxed, grinning. In a strange way, the dog was cute. He could probably get used to living with such a thing. “Thanks, Dan,” he said quietly.

Dan moved away from him and stood up. He seemed to shake his head, seemingly disgusted with himself before his face went back into his normal grimace. “Now before we move you in with me, I want to make a few things clear.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, giving Phil a bored look. His voice was monotonous. Phil wondered if he ever actually had any positive feelings. “If my door is shut, don’t come in and don’t bother me. I need my privacy. Meals will be at precisely nine in the morning, at noon, and around five in the evening. You will eat what is served to you and I expect your full cooperation. You also are not allowed to leave the building unless accompanied by me or one of my colleagues. This is for your safety, mostly, and we can’t have you getting murdered before we get our information. Lastly, give Linguine as much love as he wants. Upset him and I will flay you alive.”

Phil was a bit skeptical at the last part, but smiled down at the dog in understanding. He could definitely get used to having a cuddle partner, especially after such a hectic past few weeks. Even if that cuddle partner was a dog. He’d probably cuddle even a snake at this point. “Deal, Danny,” Phil said, wiping the dog slobber on his pants and standing up to give Dan a bright smile.

“Don’t call me Danny.”

Phil couldn’t help but notice how his voice had lacked the usual edge and how he sounded more worn out than anything.

-

Settling in had been easier than Phil had originally thought.

Dan wasn’t so bad, despite being rather rude, but he wasn’t bad. Of course, he still used the torture device in Phil’s ear, but it was getting more and more bearable each time it happened. There were moments where Dan would refuse to feed him, would shock the living daylights out of him for seemingly nothing, and would lock Phil in the room for a few days just because Dan was trying to do his job, but other than the torture aspects, Phil didn’t really think Dan was a bad guy. He just had so much pride in himself and his planet that it got on Phil’s nerves, but he supposed it was better than rooming with someone from Anger or - Phil shuddered - lust. Phil had found pretty quickly that Dan had an affinity for black (he wanted to blame it on the fact that Nefaris was just a dark planet but Phil thought he genuinely liked the colour), and that he mostly lounged around the entire day in front of a large box with moving pictures that he’d called a ‘television’.

Phil tried not to question it too much but it made him a bit uncomfortable when there were pretty blatant sex scenes in the movies for next to no reason. Not to mention the fact that those sex scenes were pretty different to the reproductive process that his own species went through, making it about ten times more creepy. These people actually seemed to be enjoying sex, undressing and - oh god, Phil didn’t even want to think of where the man was sticking his junk.

“Your people actually do that?” Phil asked, horrified. He covered his eyes with his hands and couldn’t help the frown from etching onto his features.

He felt the couch move from where Dan turned to look at him. He could imagine the way Dan’s eyebrows would be furrowed in confusion. “Do what?” he asked.

Phil pointed at the television where a man and woman were moaning grotesquely. “That.”

“What, sex?” Dan mused. His voice was tinged with disbelief. “You act like you’ve never seen it before.”

“I haven’t!” Phil exclaimed. He blanched when he tried to turn towards the television, getting an eyeful of boob. How did people even watch this without puking? Was this considered normal? If so, Phil didn’t want anything to do with it. “We don’t do that kind of stuff!”

Dan cocked an eyebrow at him. There was a smirk on his lips and Phil had a bad feeling about it. When Dan was smirking, there was never anything good to come out of it. “Oh? Then how do you Virtuos reproduce?” He kicked his legs onto the couch so he was comfortably laying his feet on Phil’s thighs. If he knew better, it would be like they were friends.

Phil’s cheeks flamed an ugly red colour. He did not want to get into how his species reproduced at the moment, but when he glanced at Dan, he knew he didn’t really have a choice. Especially not when Dan had the shock remote in his hand and was staring at Phil with a smug expression. Phil brought his knees to his chest, effectively dislodging Dan’s feet from his thighs. He did his best not to make eye contact, biting his lip before speaking. “We- er, link hands?”

“You link hands.”

Phil nodded. “We link hands and, I don’t know how to explain it? We absorb sun rays and our hair turns a light gold colour and that’s that. We don’t do it for pleasure, we simply do it for reproduction purposes.” He paused, thinking of a better way to describe it. “We, ah, photosynthesize? Kind of? Not really?” Gosh, he was so bad at explaining.

When Phil was finished, he could feel his entire body warm up with embarrassment. Dan was staring at him with the same expression and it made him squirm uncomfortably, clearing his throat and trying to make this less weird than it currently felt like. He didn’t understand why Dan was staring at him like that, but he definitely didn’t enjoy it. “Is that so,” Dan hummed. He shifted until he was closer to Phil, so close that their thighs were touching and Phil could feel their arms brush together ever so slightly. It made the hairs on his arms stand up and it was suddenly a bit harder to breathe. He leaned in, lips brushing against Phil’s ear, the hot breath making him uncomfortable. “Well maybe I could show you how it’s done, then.” His voice was teasing, like he was trying to push Phil past his limit, and Phil could feel his entire heart in his throat.

A strange noise of surprise came from Phil’s mouth, one that made him sound like he was choking. He stood up, pushing Dan away, and was surprised when Dan didn’t press down on that small red shock button. “Stop,” he said firmly. He made his gaze as icy as he could when he felt like he was going to faint. “We only reproduce when we love someone a lot and decide to have them as a mate for the rest of our lives. I don’t care if it’s different here, it’s still the same principal. I’m not the same as you arrogant and sinful Nefarians. Please just-,” his voice dropped to a low whisper as he backed out of the room, nearly tripping over Linguine in the process, “Just leave me alone for a while.”

Dan didn’t stop him when he left. He didn’t even pause to shock him. He just allowed Phil to walk away, pulling the door closed behind him and settling into his makeshift bed. Phil knew he wouldn’t get away with it and that he’d definitely be punished for such an action later, but he couldn’t care at the moment, not when his thoughts were racing and his body was strangely warm. He’d take his punishment for what he’d said later.

As he imagined, he did end up getting punished. Dan told him it was because of the way Phil had insulted his entire planet, but he couldn’t help but feel as if there was more to it than that. He wondered why Dan didn’t mention the fact that he’d blatantly rejected him. The punishment was simply just no dinner that night and a few seconds of shocking. Dan grimaced when he did it and didn’t even try to hide it. When Phil asked if he was okay, Dan just said he wasn’t feeling very well and refused to say anything else about it. Even though he was worried, Phil tried not to pressure him into telling.

-

Dan’s punishments seemed to get less and less intense. Over the next few weeks, Phil thought they were even verging on soft. Maybe Phil was just getting used to it. There was one night where Phil had been in the kitchen getting a nighttime snack. Dan was fast asleep in his room and Phil’s head was spinning so hard that he could barely think straight, let alone sleep. Whenever he had nights of insomnia, Phil’s mum used to make him a warm glass of milk to soothe his mind, so he figured that he’d do just that. Without really thinking about the consequences of his actions, Phil made his way to the kitchen. He dug around the cabinets for a moment before finding the mugs, pulling one out with a picture of a frowning face on it. However, on his way of grabbing it, he accidentally snagged it on the counter and dropped it, watching in horror as the mug shattered to tiny pieces.

The entire ordeal ended up waking Dan, and Phil braced himself, his shoulders caving as he heard footsteps make their way towards him. He was practically shaking with anticipation and dread, his half-asleep mind conjuring all the possible ways Dan could punish him this time. But when Dan walked into the kitchen, blinking sleep from his eyes, all he did was shake his head with disappointment, the dreaded red button at his side.

Phil clenched his eyes shut as Dan pressed it, but it didn’t last as long as it normally did. Instead, it was as if Dan had only briefly pressed it, Phil’s body tingling with the after effects of such a short, sharp jolt in his brain. 

“No food until dinner tomorrow,” Dan told him, grimacing. “Clean this up and get back to sleep.” 

Phil tried not to wonder why Dan’s punishment wasn’t as extensive as it normally was. Maybe Dan wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d originally thought, but even that seemed to be sort of a stretch.

He didn’t say anything about how Dan seemed tired, dark bags under his eyes and his skin more pale than usual. He didn’t say anything when Dan was suddenly working at the prison for long hours each day, not coming home until after Phil was asleep and leaving before he woke up. He didn’t say anything when he woke up one morning to find Dan asleep on the couch with the television blasting.

In fact, he didn’t say anything until he found Dan passed out on the floor of the kitchen, a glass shattered on the floor with Linguine lapping at the spilled milk.

He shook his head, pinching his lips together with concern. “Dan,” he whispered, reaching out a hand and prodding Dan’s shoulder. Dan didn’t even twitch and Phil sighed deeply. Of course he couldn’t make it easy on Phil. With a grunt, Phil hoisted Dan into his arms and basically dragged him down the hallway and into his room.

There was milk spilt all over Dan’s outfit, staining the black cloth with drying milk. Phil contemplated what to do before he let out a groan and started to search through Dan’s clothing until he found something rather suitable to wear as pyjamas. Everything was black, as he expected, and it didn’t take long for him to find a pair of black sweatpants. He knew that Dan never slept with a shirt on, so he didn’t bother in that aspect and started to undress him, cringing at the thought of Dan waking up like this.

Dan’s shirt slid off easily enough with Phil sitting him up and helping him out of it, but the jeans were an entirely different story. They were so tight, as if they were glued to him, and it took Phil five whole minutes to take them off, huffing and sweating slightly at the exertion. He took a moment to rest, leaning back and observing Dan’s body with trepidation. Dan’s chest was rising and falling with each breath he took, golden skin stretching over his bones, so much darker than Phil was used to seeing. In comparison, Phil’s skin almost looked see-through when held against Dan’s, and it was briefly captivating until he realized what he was doing and snapped himself out of his creepy thoughts.

Putting the sweatpants on Dan was ten times easier than taking his jeans off, that’s for sure.

When he was finished with dressing Dan, Phil leaned back and tucked him under the covers, not really knowing what to do with himself. If he waited for Dan to wake up, he feared it would be a tad weird, but at the same time, he didn’t feel like doing anything else when he didn’t know if Dan was going to be alright. Sure, maybe he was a bit of a pushover when Dan was so rude to him, but he couldn’t help but be concerned when the guy had literally passed out in the middle of the kitchen floor. Certainly anyone would be worried about that, right?

Phil didn’t have to contemplate his actions for long, though, because soon Dan was shuffling in the bed and his eyes blinked open in confusion. When he was just waking up, his face didn’t have the usual hardness that he so often wore and his features were more childish and innocent, like a confused little boy. Phil knew better than to coo at him so he kept his mouth tightly shut and smiled at him through tight lips just as Dan realized what had happened and he wiped all expression from his face.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Phil murmured, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. He glanced away just as Dan met his eyes, trying not to think about how he’d literally undressed the man before him only minutes ago. “You passed out on the kitchen floor.”

“Seems like it,” Dan muttered. He went to sit up but stopped when Phil put a hand on his chest, pushing him back down. If he knew anything, it was that Dan shouldn’t be standing so soon after what had happened. Dan didn’t say anything in response and surprisingly listened, settling back against his pillows and staring at Phil through his eyelashes. “You helped me get to bed?”

Phil nodded, nervous. He brought his thumb to his mouth and chewed on the dead skin by his nail. “I wasn’t just going to leave you there like that.” Dan hummed and buried himself further under the duvet, leaving Phil a hesitating mess, unsure of if he should give Dan some alone time or badger him about what was wrong. He ended up choosing the latter, not really minding if it got him punished later. “What’s wrong? You look really tired lately and like you’re overworking yourself. You should take some time for yourself to just relax-.”

“Phil,” Dan hissed, glaring at him. “Stop.”

“No, I won’t stop!” Phil argued, crossing his arms over his chest, partially to hide the way his hands were shaking and also to show that he wasn’t backing down. “You could have gotten hurt, just passing out like that! Something is wrong and you aren’t telling me what it is. I understand that I’m not exactly your favourite person, but I’m your flatmate and I don’t like seeing you hurting like that!”

“You’re literally my prisoner,” Dan growled. He gave Phil a hard look which made the words immediately die in his throat. Phil’s head was spinning with the words and he felt like he was going to vomit. Sometimes, he forgot that he didn’t equate to anything on this stupid planet. “Stop trying to act like we’re friends when we aren’t.”

Phil was shaking, partially with fear and partially from the worry that was coursing through his entire body. He knew that he couldn’t lash out, not without getting punished at least, so he pressed his lips together to keep himself from saying something he’d ultimately regret. Dan’s eyes flickered down to where he was pressing his lips together and he could have sworn he saw Dan’s eyes soften just a fraction. He decided right then and there that he was going to be as nice as possible, buttering Dan up with compliments and kind words. Maybe it would make his mother proud. “I consider us friends,” Phil murmured softly. “I even thought we were getting along before you started to avoid me.”

There was a moment where they both went silent. Dan froze. His eyes were wide and his face seemed to have paled a bit. Phil tensed, holding his breath. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything, maybe he should have just let the entire situation go. He knew he couldn’t though, not when Dan was sick and trying to act like he was fine.

Finally, Dan sighed, relaxing a bit into the bundle of blankets wrapped around him. He closed his eyes and Phil could see him visibly gulp. “Sit down,” Dan instructed, scooting over and patting the space beside him. Phil hesitated but eventually gave in, settling onto the mattress stiffly. He briefly wondered if this was a test and Dan would punish him for sitting on his bed. He didn’t. “I’m not going to bite, relax.” Dan’s eyes opened to little slits in which he stared at Phil, reaching out a finger and lightly tapping on each of Phil’s shoulder, one at a time until they were relieved of tension. “As you know, I come from the Pride district. Obviously, this means I’m very prideful, of my family, of my planet, of our views. I joined the military when I was pretty young because of this and became a well-respected guard. You are not the only Virtuous I have restrained. You probably won’t be the last. But you’re the first one who I’ve had trouble treating like I’m supposed to.”

Phil blinked, taken aback. From the way Dan had been avoiding him lately, he’d been sure that he hated him more than anything in the world, no questions asked. From the way Dan worded his answer, he wondered if Dan maybe felt bad for what he had been doing. But perhaps that was hopeful thinking. “You… what?” He asked, his mind not being able to wrap around what had just come out of Dan’s mouth.

Dan groaned, closing his eyes once again and throwing an arm over his face. Now that Phil somewhat had an idea as to what Dan’s personality was like, he wondered if Dan was embarrassed. Ashamed. “I don’t know. I just can’t treat you like the rest of them. You’re too… too nice or something. Like I’m a bad person, I know that, but I can’t treat you like everyone else.”

Mind spinning, Phil didn’t know what to say. He wanted to ask questions, ask why he was supposedly different than the rest of the Virtuous that Dan had dealt with, but he couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that Dan didn’t particularly know why either. Dan’s expression was pained, somewhat annoyed, and his eyes were shut tight as if he didn’t want to make eye contact with Phil at all. “I don’t think I understand,” Phil said quietly.

It was then that Dan seemed to snap, eyes flying open as he glared at him. “I said I don’t know!” he snarled and Phil’s eyes widened because his demeanor was suddenly completely different, more hostile, and Phil wasn’t exactly expecting that. “Just- just leave. Get out.”

Phil scrambled to his feet. He was horribly confused, mind spinning, and Dan was glaring at him, face filled with disgust as if he hadn’t just told Phil that he was the type of person that Dan couldn’t treat the same as the others. As if Phil was one of the ‘filthy Virtuous’ that Dan hated. He could feel his face screw up with something akin to pain, but Dan was ordering him to get out, telling him to stop looking at him and that he could sleep on the couch for that night as long as he just left Dan alone.

He left.

That night, Phil couldn’t get the look on Dan’s face out of his mind, the way he was so angry for no reason and how he looked absolutely disgusted by Phil’s presence. Phil went to sleep curled up with Linguine, grateful for the warmth that the dog provided him, but with a disgusting taste in his mouth that wouldn’t seem to disappear.

-

Phil woke up to loud banging noises from the kitchen. Squinting his eyes against the bright moonlight leaking through the window, he sat up and started making his way over to the kitchen.

He found Dan there, making breakfast, loud clanging noises hurting his ears as Dan shuffled pots and pans over the counter. “Good morning,” Phil said, his voice deep and rather gravelly from sleep.

Dan tensed but he didn’t say anything back. Phil decided that Dan was still mad about yesterday. He wouldn’t bother him, then. Phil didn’t want to make Dan any more angry, so he just sat at the table, watching as Dan finished cooking the meal and served Phil’s portion first.

The portion that ended up on Phil’s plate was larger than it had been ever before. Phil’s mouth dried up and he stared in awe at the meal in front of him. There was a pile of delicious eggs, two slices of toast with strawberry spread, and a small stack of fluffy, delectable pancakes, golden around the edges, a perfect square of butter in the center and slathered with sugary syrup.

Used to only getting a piece of toast, Phil could only stare for a moment.

“Thank you,” he finally got out, his throat closing up with emotion. He could finally see Dan’s face, which was bunched up with the perfect definition of anger, more so than Phil had ever seen in their time of knowing each other.

Dan grunted in response and sat down to eat his own meal. He didn’t say anything after that and Phil didn’t try to either. He wouldn’t force Dan to talk to him if he didn’t want to, he didn’t want to make him angrier. Phil figured that Dan had some inner demons that he had to defeat and they were probably to do with Phil. If he tried to force Dan to talk, he had no doubt in his mind that Dan would loathe him in the end.

He didn’t want Dan to loathe him, so he stayed quiet while Dan sulked in silence.

-

Over the next few weeks, Dan was still in the same mood. He refused to talk to Phil and would only acknowledge him on rare occasions. But even then, he wouldn’t say anything to Phil and would only grunt or make other noises in annoyance.

Phil couldn’t bare it, but he also couldn’t be mad at Dan for this. He understood, and it was also hard to stay mad when Dan would do little things for him that were unbelievably kind. Much like that day where Dan had served Phil a large breakfast, he would perform acts of kindness that made Phil’s heart swell and his head hurt from confusion. By the end of the few weeks, Dan had ended up giving Phil so many pillows and blankets to sleep with that he was surrounded in a warm cocoon, ten times more comfortable than he originally was sleeping with. Every time Phil would get uncomfortable with something on the television (such as the sex scenes), Dan would change the channel to a show more suitable to Phil’s liking.

Phil didn’t know what had changed between them or what Dan was thinking, but he was beyond grateful for all that Dan was doing for him, even if he seemed rather torn about his feelings over Phil.

Currently, Phil was left at Dan’s flat while he went out for work. The door was locked from the outside so that Phil couldn’t escape, but he wasn’t going to try anyways. Why would he try to escape when he had nowhere to go? Especially when escaping meant he would be welcoming death?

The television was on for Phil’s amusement but he wasn’t paying attention to it. Instead, he was snooping around the apartment, trying to both entertain himself and see who Dan really was. There wasn’t really much, if he was being honest. The flat was pretty bare, filled with minimal furniture and not very many personal items. 

 

However, on the mantle over the fireplace were a few framed pictures, the only form of proof that Dan actually had a life outside of the Nefarian military. He glanced around quickly, knowing that Dan wasn’t actually watching him at the moment to get mad at him for snooping. He hesitated before stepping closer, picking up one of the frames with a gentle grip as if he was afraid to crush it under his fingertips. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was a young version of Dan with two older Nefarians that resembled him and what looked to be a younger child. The next two pictures were exactly like the first, with the same people.

“That’s my family.”

Phil jumped, nearly dropping the picture on the floor and whirling around to come face-to-face with Dan. For the first time in weeks, Dan was finally looking at him, and he seemed so sad that Phil nearly wanted to just take him into his arms and comfort him. “Your family?” Phil questioned. It made sense now that he thought about it. The people in the picture were so similar to Dan and it would hardly make sense if he’d had pictures of a random family in his house.

Dan pressed his lips together. It seemed as if he was trying to come up with the right words to say. And then his entire demeanor dropped and he just looked sad. “When I was younger, they were murdered. By the Virtuous military.” He cast Phil a meaningful glance and Phil felt his stomach lurch. “I’ve never really forgiven… your kind since then. It’s the reason I became a prison guard. I wanted nothing more than to see the Virtuous burn in hell.”

“Dan…” Phil started, but his words caught in his throat. His thoughts were running a mile per minute and Dan didn’t let him continue.

“Guess we’re even now right? You murdered my parents and I murdered yours.” He laughed humorlessly. His eyes were dull, lifeless. “Maybe that’s why I don’t hate you so much.”

“Dan, I’m so sor-.”

Dan shook his head and held his palm up, signalling Phil to stop. He smiled and it was sad, his features so soft in contrast to what Phil was used to. “Don’t. Apologies won’t change anything.” He hesitated a minute, expression a bit sheepish. “I want to get away from everything for a bit. There’s a place that I like to go to get my thoughts off of everything. Would you like to go with me?”

Phil blinked. “You- what?”

Dan rolled his eyes but there was a bit of a smirk on his lips. “Don’t make me repeat what I said.”

Phil ended up agreeing and Dan disappeared for a moment before coming back with a blindfold. He said it was because he couldn’t allow Phil to see the escape route, but he looked sorry when he said so. When Phil asked why, he told him that he hated to blindfold a friend.

Friend.

The word made Phil so happy that his stomach was doing flips everywhere, even as Dan was blindfolding him, securing his world in darkness. Even the lack of sight wouldn’t allow Phil’s happiness to dampen.

Dan started to lead Phil with a light hand at the small of his back. Dan’s touch was so soft that it was a weird difference than what Phil would have normally expected from him. It wasn’t a bad thing, though. In fact, Phil was ecstatic about it.

It was a while before Dan’s hand disappeared from Phil’s back and they stopped walking. A few moments later, the blindfold was removed, and Phil could clearly see his surroundings. Well, not clearly considering how absolutely dark it was on the planet (Phil forgot sometimes that he was actually on the planet of darkness and not on Virtuo anymore), but he could see the thousands of stars twinkling above and the two moons, Archeon and Dioness, illuminating the ground.

This was the first that Phil had seen of the planet up close. He’d heard that the planet was barren, with dead shrubs lining the ground, shadows cowering behind every tree, and an absence of anything green that Phil’s people were so accustomed to. While these words held truth, they were also so very wrong.

Yes, there were a few dead shrubs, but there had been a few of those even on Phil’s planet. They were standing on the edge of what seemed to be a giant cliff, a canyon if Phil had any say, and down below, Phil could see what looked to be a sliver of a river that was probably hundreds of feet in depth. Even though it was dark, Phil could see that the ground was made up of red rock and sand, mixed with accents of black. Tall trees with thick red leaves and black trunks loomed over them, casting shadows into the abyss below.

Phil could barely catch his breath, wondering how his people had ever thought this world was ‘ugly’. Just because there was a lack of light didn’t make the planet ugly, for it was beautiful in it’s own way. “This is beautiful,” Phil whispered, smiling and turning to Dan.

Dan had a smile on his face, one that Phil didn’t think he’d ever get used to seeing. There was a dimple in his cheek that reminded Phil of the very canyon they were standing before. “I go here when I need to think for a bit,” Dan said quietly. He moved to sit on the ground, close enough to the edge where he could see the river below. Phil sat beside him, a little bit too close, but he didn’t bother to move. “What is your home like? I know it’s not dark like mine, but I’m sure it’s more beautiful than we’ve been taught it is, especially if you’re from there.”

Cheeks darkening at the comment, Phil coughed a bit to hide his blush. He shuffled a bit closer to Dan, feeling a bit chilly despite the fact that there was zero wind blowing on him. Dan was warm, welcoming, a complete contrast to when Phil had first met him. He couldn’t portray how proud he was of Dan for coming so far and letting his cold exterior finally melt, showing the scared and fragile man underneath. “Virtuo is full of very bright colours, ranging from yellows to blues to greens. We build our houses out of branches and leaves from trees and oftentimes will place our houses high in the treetops. Our trees range from ones with brown trunks and green leaves to yellow trunks with purple leaves and our grass is tall, coming all the way up to my waist and shining the same golden-orange colour as our sun. The sky is a soft purple colour with light pink clouds and we have a lot of rainbow coloured animals with wings and hard beaks.” Phil took a deep breath, frowning a bit. “I miss my home, but I fear it won’t feel like home anymore if I ever go back.”

Dan hummed in understanding, leaning into Phil so they were pressed closely together, supporting one another. “I’d like to see it for myself one day, it sounds beautiful,” he breathed. “And if it means anything, I’m really sorry about what my people have done to your planet. I’ve heard a few things from the other guards and it sounds like we’ve ruined things. I’m positive that one day, our planets will come together to form a peace treaty. That way we can be friends without it being illegal.”

Phil shrugged, sighing. He frowned, staring up at the sky. He could see the spot in the sky that was his planet, a star slightly bigger than the rest and emitting a soft purple glow. While the idea seemed nice, he couldn’t help but wonder if he truly wanted that. Of course, he wanted to be at peace with Nefaris, but he didn’t know if he wanted to leave when that happened. The thought of going home and seeing his familiar surroundings without the calming presence of his mother frightened him and made him feel nauseous. He didn’t know if he could handle it, if he could handle walking through his old threshold to a house that didn’t have his mother offering him freshly baked goods and warm hugs.

But he also didn’t know if he wanted to leave Dan behind, millions of lightyears away.

“Won’t you be sad to see me go?” Phil settled on instead, deciding not to voice his thoughts to his companion.

He could feel the way Dan nodded, rustling against his shoulder. “Of course I will,” Dan replied, voice full of absolute certainty. “But it makes me even more sad to know you’re trapped here against your will in a world where you don’t belong.”

“I think I could live in this world if I had you.” The words were out of Phil’s mouth before he could think twice about it. He wondered briefly if he regretted it, but ultimately decided that he didn’t. It was the truth, and Phil’s people were honest after all.

Dan paused, breath catching in his throat. For once, he seemed to be taken by surprise, slowly turning to look at Phil. Phil met his gaze, giving him a soft smile and wondering how Dan’s face could look so soft and bright in the dim moonlight above. From this close, he could see the few freckles on his skin, complementing the naturally tan complexion, and Phil could hardly understand how a creature he used to think was so ugly was now one of the most beautiful sights he had ever laid his eyes on.

They were so close that Phil could feel Dan’s breath on his face. He seemed to be barely breathing, as if he was afraid of something, and there was a moment where everything snapped into place and Phil just knew. Looking into Dan’s eyes, he could understand every emotion that he saw there: fear, wonder, admiration.

He could understand because he could feel them himself.

When Dan began to lean forward, Phil didn’t even have the time to question it. He’d seen it in the Nefarian movies enough to know what it meant despite the fact that his own race didn’t show their affections in the same way. He just accepted it, leaning forward the rest of the way to connect his lips to Dan’s, a nice surprise that he hadn’t expected to like so much. Dan’s lips were soft against his, caressing Phil as if he was a fragile piece of art that would crumble under his fingertips. Phil let his eyes slip closed almost naturally, his fingers reaching out to run over Dan’s cheekbones, feeling his soft skin there and tucking a strand of hair behind Dan’s ear.

Phil didn’t understand why the Virtuous never kissed when it felt so nice. But then again, maybe it only felt nice because it was Dan.

All too soon, it was over, and Phil didn’t quite understand what was happening.

One moment, Dan’s lips were on his, soft and warm and feeling like home for the first time since coming to this planet, and then they were gone, ripped away from him, and cold air was now kissing Phil’s lips where Dan’s had previously been.

There were harsh hands gripping at Phil’s shoulders, bruising his skin, and harsh shouting that hurt his eardrums. He felt like the device in his ear was crackling to life, a pain tearing through his head so severely that it rendered him to his knees with a pathetic cry. But he couldn’t grasp what was going on; he had to look, so he opened his eyes as best as he could.

He immediately made eye contact with Dan, a few feet away from him, who was screaming something - his name? - while soldiers handcuffed him and knocked him to the ground. Phil wanted to tell him that he was okay, that they would get through this, but his mouth wouldn’t open and his teeth were clamping sharply onto his tongue. He knew that if he tried to speak, he would only scream. Why weren’t they turning the device off? The shocks usually only lasted for a few moments, but this was going on for far longer than Phil had ever partaken in and he felt like he wanted to pry out his brain himself.

Dr. Catellier stood in front of them, an angry glower on his face. “Sit up straight, scum,” he spat at Phil, who was crouched on the floor heavily due to pain. He tried to stretch out but the pain only got worse and he didn’t think he could physically do it. “I said to sit up straight!” A moment later, there was a sharp smack on the side of Phil’s face and he was grappling on the ground, trying to pick himself up even though he felt as though he was going to throw up. He thought he heard Dan yell his name but he wasn’t sure. When his posture was decent, Dr. Catellier went on, eyes narrowed at Dan and Phil alike. “You both are a disgrace! An affair with a Virtuous, Dan? I thought you were smarter than to go around having feelings for the enemy, but I suppose I was wrong.”

“But-!” Dan started, cut off before he could even begin.

“No, I don’t want to hear it.” Now, the doctor’s voice was completely calm, collected. His voice was poisonous. “Dan, you are a disgrace to our planet. I demand to have you exiled to the prisons, where you will be severely punished for your crimes. There, you will be treated like one of the Virtuous so you can understand why they are inferior to us. I expect you to resign your place in the military. You are not welcome here anymore.”

Phil’s mind was racing, as much as it could when he was in massive pain anyways. Dan was going to be punished? And exiled to the prisons? The term ‘disappointment’ rang through Phil’s head. He could see the way Dan had flinched when Dr. Catellier had said it, as if it physically hurt him.

Phil understood. Dan was prideful, he was loyal and tried his hardest to make his planet proud. To be called a disappointment was probably the one thing he feared most.

Swallowing the pain, Phil opened his mouth. His voice came out shaky. “Sir?” For some reason, he was allowed to speak. Dr. Catellier’s eyebrows raised and a gun pointed at the back of his head. “It w-wasn’t Dan. I-It was m-me.”

From the corner of his eye, he could see Dan gaping at him, glaring. He was angry, but that was alright. Phil could deal with it. “Phil, don’t be ridicu-.”

“You shut the fuck up!” Dr. Catellier snarled. His finger went to the remote control and Phil clenched his teeth, whimpering as the man turned the shock all the way up. Phil’s head was surely going to split. He didn’t even know how he was alive still, but he knew he probably shouldn’t be. He could feel a thin droplet of blood leaking from his nose and it was hard to focus on anything because his vision was red.

Phil took a deep breath. He was panting, feeling a bit faint, sweat rolling down his face. Dr. Catellier gestured at the soldier behind Phil and they stepped towards him, seemingly ready to force him to shut up. Phil tried to focus his vision on the men in front of him but found that it was nearly impossible. But he couldn’t just let them exile Dan! He couldn’t! Through the pain, Phil forced himself to speak, his voice coming out strangled and choked. “Dan didn’t kiss me, I was the one who came onto him.” Everybody went silent, shocked that Phil was still able to form proper sentences when the device was turned to the highest setting. Phil closed his eyes, pretended he couldn’t see the hurt in Dan’s eyes or the malicious glee in Dr. Catellier’s. Pretended that everything was normal and his head wasn’t splitting. “He was threatening to throw me off the cliff if I didn’t give him information. I thought that if I seduced him, then he wouldn’t kill me just yet. He was just doing his job.”

“Daniel, is this true?” Dr. Catellier demanded.

Phil cast Dan a pleading look, one that said, ‘please trust me.’ Slowly, Dan nodded but he was obviously not happy. He seemed as if he was biting his tongue, trying to tell them that Phil was lying and that it was obviously not true. But he didn’t. He was putting all of his trust into Phil and Phil wanted to kiss him again.

Dr. Catellier let out a malicious laugh, the noise cutting through the air like a knife. “Is that so,” he mused. Phil had just enough time to register the glimmer in his eye before he was being shoved at Dan, the soldiers letting out amused chuckles. “Well then I suppose since Philip wishes to be treated like a piece of meat, then Daniel should give him what he wishes!” Phil fell into Dan’s arms, practically limp as his eyes fell shut from pain. “Show him what he wanted, Dan.”

It was obvious that Dan seemed at a loss for what to do. His hands were fluttering nervously around Phil’s waist and Phil didn’t have to see his expression to know how scared Dan was. Even so, Dan was probably hiding his emotions from everyone else, just how he used to. He obviously didn’t want to hurt Phil, but in this instance, there was nothing else he could do without blowing their cover.

So it came as no surprise to Phil when Dan was tangling his hand into Phil’s hair, practically yanking his head back to meet his eyes. Phil was trying his best to show that he was okay, that Dan could do whatever he wanted and he wouldn’t hate him, but those brown eyes showed just how truly worried he was. Dr. Catellier was taunting them, and that made Dan react, shoving his lips hungrily onto Phil’s and kissing him harshly, as if he truly was trying to treat Phil like a piece of meat. To Phil though, it slightly calmed the constant buzzing in his head to feel Dan’s lips moving roughly against his. He tried not to think about how the kiss felt as if it was their last one, or the way Dan’s lips turned soft over his own for two milliseconds before pulling away.

Just as the soldiers grabbed onto Phil, Phil managed enough energy to grip Dan’s hands in his, bringing him closer so he could whisper in his ear while Dan went to bite harshly at his neck. He was sure it was just a way to show that Dan was trying to do exactly what Dr. Catellier had asked while Phil was speaking softly to him. “On my planet, there is a special gem located in the trunk of the largest tree on Virtuo. That will be the key to end this godforsaken war.” He smiled, his eyes a bit watery as the the soldiers began to tug him away from Dan’s grip. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

-

Dan didn’t know what to do. The image of Phil being dragged away by the guards was burning beneath his eyelids, making it hard to pay attention to anything else. His fellow guards were patting him on the back, congratulating him on the successful capture of the ‘evil Virtuous’, but he couldn’t hear them.

His ears were roaring and his throat was constricting with such anger that it was frightening. He was shaking.

He had never had so much hatred for his own planet before in his life.

As soon as he was alone, his mind was racing, trying to figure out how to get Phil out of jail, how to get to Virtuo to get that gemstone that Phil was thinking of. But he didn’t understand. How could a simple gem end the entire war between their planets? How would this allow Phil to get out of jail, to allow Dan and Phil to be together with no judgement?

God, his head hurt.

Firstly, he needed help. Help from someone he trusted, someone who would never turn their back on him no matter what. And he had the perfect person in mind.

“Louise,” Dan started as he entered his friend’s living community. She was laying on the bed watching television, her head lolling to the side and her eyes drooping. She blinked as he walked in, straightening up and giving him a small smile.

“Hey Dan!” Louise was a hysterical case, but she was Dan’s best friend through-and-through. Growing up in the district of Sloth, Louise wasn’t nearly as sinful as the rest of the Nefarians. Dan actually found it quite funny that Sloth was even considered a sin after all. If being lazy and liking sleep was a sin, Dan would take it over his own Pride any day. At the sight of Dan, pale-faced with a haunted expression on his face, Louise stood up and brought him into a hug. Dan melted into her embrace, feeling a tad more relaxed than he was before. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Dan groaned, pulling away from her. He averted his eyes and ran a hand through his fringe. “Don’t judge me, okay? I need help but I swear to god, Louise, if you judge me, I will plan your demise.”

Louise laughed, patting him on the head. “No worries, Dan. I won’t judge you, you know that.”

Taking a deep breath, Dan let it all out, his hands unconsciously moving into fists, fingernails pressing crescents into his palm. He was so pissed, the thought of Phil being tortured making him want to puke. “I was put on duty to protect one of the Virtuous named Phil. He was from Kindness, so of course he was really nice but really stubborn and just took whatever torture came to him. However, he refused to give us any information so we allowed him to come stay with me in my housing accommodation. Long story short, I like him. A lot. More than I’ve liked anyone before. And we-,” Dan grimaced, swallowing. His face was hot and he couldn’t believe he was about to share this with Louise, but he really needed her help. “We kissed? Like, properly.”

Louise gaped at him, her mouth falling open and her eyes as wide as saucers. He knew that she wasn’t upset though, more surprised than anything else. “Well what’s the problem then? Other than the fact that you both are going to get shot and killed if this war doesn’t end soon.”

“They found us, Louise. Dr. Catellier and a few guards saw us kissing and they-,” his voice broke a bit and he clearedhis throat to continue, “-they took him away from me. They were going to exile me but Phil took all of the blame, stated he had threatened me into kissing him so that I wouldn’t have to be punished and he would take all of it.”

Louise was silent, rubbing her chin as she slowly tried to run all of this through her head. “He sounds like exactly the kind of person you need in your life. Hell, everyone probably needs a Phil. Obviously we have to get him out, but that’s practically impossible thanks to the security on this place. Any ideas as to how we can do that?”

Dan hesitated, thinking back to what Phil had said about the gem. Should he tell Louise? She was Virtuo’s enemy after all. But on the other hand, she was a lot more lax than anybody Dan knew. “Phil mentioned a secret gem hidden somewhere on his planet? He said that if I obtain it then the war will be over.”

Louise froze. She looked as if she had paled ten times her usual colour and she was staring at Dan as if she had seen a ghost. “A secret gem?”

“Yes?”

“Dan! Do you even know what we’re fighting for?”

Dan’s mind went blank. He suddenly forgot every single history textbook he’d ever read. “Um, the differences between the dark planet and light?” he squeaked.

Louise literally smacked herself in the face, shaking her head with exasperation. “The Virtuous have harboured a secret gem for centuries which allow their land to flourish and thrive with plants. I don’t know all of the details, but I do know that this gem is supposed to make the planet inhabitants happier and more content, a contrast to our wonderfully ecstatic planet. Even a very small sliver of this stone would allow plants to grow on our barren planet and would spread good vibes to all of us living here, but the Virtuous didn’t want to share it so they hid it. We have no idea where, and they won’t tell us. If we could somehow find a part of this gem, we could ultimately stop the war and form a peace treaty with Virtuo.”

By the time she was done speaking, Louise was practically panting from her monologue, having gotten a bit too excited. Dan was shocked. That was the whole reason behind the war? They could have stopped this from happening centuries ago? He wanted to slap himself to see if this was a dream. “What if I said I knew where the gem was?”

If Louise was holding something, she would have dropped it just then. “You’re fucking kidding me.”

Dan grinned. “You got a spaceship?”

Louise, seeming frozen with shock, cackled out a laugh and slapped Dan on the back. “You bet your ass I do.”

-

One of the perks to being friends with Louise was that she was ultimately in charge of all of the aircraft’s. Or a small part, anyways. She allowed people to take them out, recording the reason for the vehicle’s use, and she watched to make sure they were returned safely. But because Dan was her best friend, they often went on what they liked to call ‘joy rides’.

Or in this case, ‘joy missions to the enemy planet to get a hidden gem,’ trademarked by Dan Howell.

It didn’t take long at all for Louise and Dan to find an uninhabited spaceship, and then they were launching into the air with little to no suspicion from other Nefarians. The one good thing about being in a war was that they could literally leave in a spaceship at any time and no one would spare a second glance due to it happening so often.

The journey to the enemy planet was about a three day trip, and Dan was nearly quaking in his shoes. He just wanted to get there, grab the fucking gem, and free Phil. Three days was a long time for Phil to be tortured, when he had important things to do, and that wasn’t counting the travel time back to Nefaris or the amount of time it would take to find the stupid gem. He couldn’t help wondering what was happening to Phil right then, wondering what sort of pain he was enduring. Was Phil even still alive? He didn’t know, didn’t have any way of knowing, and his throat closed at the thought. He couldn’t think about Phil’s lifeless body, his eyes sunken in, his body more pale than it usually was. Just the thought was enough to have him begin to pace around the room, wringing his fingers until they were turning white, until Louise was telling him that there was nothing he can do but to focus on the present and stop thinking about what could happen. He wasn’t going to be of any help to Phil when he was so panicked he could barely think straight.

Even so, he tried to sit down when Louise snapped at him to stop pacing, and thought about when the war would end and he would be free to finally be himself, to finally love whoever he wanted to, and to finally be with Phil. That was how he spent the next three days. Uselessly pacing, muttering to himself, and then forcing him to imagine a future with Phil. Would they have a good life together when the war ended? Would they live in Virtuo or would they live in Nefaris? Would they sleep in the same bed together, Linguine at their feet? 

Dan felt as though he was going to throw up. Three days was a long time when Dan was going a little bit insane.

-

“Dan, Dan, wake up.”

Dan groaned and cracked his eyes open. Apparently it wasn’t a fast enough reaction, because his shoulder was then being jostled and Louise was hissing at him to just ‘get the fuck up already or I'm going to turn you in to the guards’. Dan’s brain cleared after a moment of listening to her bitch, and then he was springing awake, glancing out the window of their ship. Immediately, his breath was taken away.

“Woah,” he breathed.

In all of his life, he’d never actually seen Virtuo in person before, and this was the very first time. He hadn’t expected it to be so beautiful. They hadn’t landed yet, still quite a distance away from the planet, but Dan could see the vibrancy of the planet and the way it shone like it was a magical object. Pictures and descriptions didn’t do it any justice.

The planet was a soft pink colour with patches of light blue where there were large bodies of water. Clouds of lavender floated peacefully in the atmosphere, and there was a golden ring around the planet, illuminating against the black nothingness of the galaxy. It was such a contrast to the black and red expansion of his own planet that Dan could barely tear his eyes away from the sight. He didn’t think he’d ever seen such vibrant colours before in his life.

“And we want to destroy this?” Dan asked in disbelief. He couldn’t quite wrap his head around that fact.

Louise nodded, steering the ship expertly into the planet’s atmosphere. If they were lucky, they would be able to get past the Virtuous and find the gem pretty quickly. “Maybe if we find this stupid stone, we can quit this stupid war. Do you know where it is? Or did you forget already?”

Dan scoffed, scowling. “Fuck off,” he hissed. “Phil said it was hidden in the trunk of the largest tree on his planet. But I don’t know how we’re supposed to measure every single tree on Virtuo.”

“Dan!” Louise hissed, giving him a small glare. They were now a lot closer to the planet's surface, where Dan was able to see physical aspects of the planet. Everything was a different colour and it slightly hurt his eyes. “Did you even listen in our geography class? I swear, you are the smartest person I know but you can be quite stupid a lot.”

“Excuse me?”

Louise sighed, exasperated. “The largest tree in Virtuo is located in Patience and is called Monrosia. It has a yellow trunk the width of three houses combined and is so tall that the leaves are in the clouds. It’s quite easy to spot from above.” She turned to the electronic map in the center console of the ship, and typed in a few letters, probably searching for the exact coordinates of the tree. “Virtuo isn’t one for advanced weapons, luckily for us, we could easily pry out the gem with one of our laser guns.”

Dan pressed his lips together, biting them so he wouldn’t say anything he regretted. Apparently, he needed to pay more attention in class, considering he kept forgetting vital information and all.

 

He didn’t need to say anything anyways, because then they were suddenly flying over treetops, purple leaves only a few feet below them. Dan could see small wooden houses sitting on the branches, blocks carved out of the trunks to allow a ladder to reach the doors. When he looked across the vast expanse, he could see large animals with wings and vibrant furs flying through the air, gliding so peacefully that it put the Nefaris spaceship to shame. God, Virtuos was beautiful, the very place that Dan would have expected for someone like Phil to live.

“Don’t get too sappy on me, Howell,” Louise teased, but there was a slight upward twinge to her lips and her eyes were soft when she looked at him. Dan realized then how lucky he was to have someone like her as his friend, someone who didn’t judge him even when he disobeyed the law, going to all lengths just to make sure he was happy. Maybe he was getting sappy.

“We’re going to land soon, grab the lasers and the x-ray glasses and prepare yourself. Hopefully we don’t have to hurt any Virtuous today.”

“We’re not hurting any Virtuous,” Dan stated firmly.

Louise sighed. “Then you’d better hope they don’t attack us, heart eyes Howell.”

Dan frowned but he didn’t get a chance to answer because then they were landing, a loud thumping noise notifying him of their arrival. He glanced out the window quizzically, noticing the long golden grass (like strands of actual sunshine) waving in the air like water. He was quivering with excitement, unbuckling from his seat to obtain some equipment. If they wanted to do this, they’d better do it fast, fast enough that they didn’t get noticed.

So why did Dan have the awful feeling that something was going to go wrong anyways?

Dan shivered, tossing a pair of glasses and a laser gun over to Louise. She caught it easily, sliding the goggles over her eyes, Dan mimicking her. Once they were geared up, Louise nodded at him and pressed a button. The door to the spaceship flew open.

Cautiously, they made their way out of their little solitude, glancing around the area and making sure they were truly alone. The air was warm, a lot warmer than Dan’s own planet, and he was thankful that their atmosphere was similar and didn’t require a suit for him to be able to breathe. A few paces out was the tree, so large that Dan was getting dizzy just looking at it. He didn’t quite understand how something that large was able to thrive, but he decided not to question it considering there was a jewel in the trunk of it that promoted plant growth. No wonder it was so large.

“Ready?” Louise asked. Dan nodded, steeling himself. Louise grinned. “Let’s go.”

Considering they didn’t have to actually climb the tree since the gem they were looking for was in the trunk of it, Dan wasn’t too worried about how they were going to get it. His biggest worry at the moment was being able to safely get a chunk of the gem without being caught. Looking around and finding that there was nobody there to watch the tree, it seemed easy. Way too easy.

Louise glanced at Dan and they made eye contact. She nodded at him and they both switched on their x-ray glasses. Looking at the tree, they immediately caught sight of what they were there for, shining with brilliant rays that couldn’t be seen without their special technology.

“Bullseye,” Louise whispered. With a careful hand, she pulled out her laser gun and switched it on. The good thing about the guns was that they had a setting that would literally turn them into laser swords. Not only was it cool, but it made stealing gems from tree trunks a hell of a lot easier. Louise drew the sword while Dan stayed watch, glancing around to make sure that they were still alone.

They were.

Louise got started then, and Dan was the one to listen actively to their surroundings. Every crunch of a leave, Dan would stop Louise from drilling, until they were both absolutely positive it was safe. It was a bit hard to judge whether what he was hearing was just another winged animal launching into the air or if it was Virtuous soldiers coming to get them. Soon enough, Louise had drilled a hole right through the tree, pulling out a chunk of wood along with a bright gemstone. Dan’s eyes widened as he saw it. It was quite large, a bright emerald colour as if it contained thousands of plant lives right inside of it. He swore he could see moving swirls of forest green and flecks of golden stars. A soft glow emitted from it, Louise’s hands turning slightly green because of it. The two held their breath.

“Wow,” Dan breathed.

It was then that Dan made his first mistake. Because he hadn’t been watching their surroundings, he hadn’t seen the people approaching them, and he didn’t notice they’d been caught until he and Louise were being slammed to the ground, wrists cuffed with thorny twine and faces pressed into the dirt. Louise let out a surprised yelp, but Dan was too shocked to make any noise, too proud to say that he’d been caught off guard in the first place. He was breathing in dirt, and trying to pretend as if he didn’t mind it.

“Take them to the council!” A voice called, and Dan realized with despair that they had been caught by Virtuo’s military. He resisted the urge to fight back - he couldn’t, not when he loved one of their kind - and swallowed the disgusting taste in his mouth as he realized that they would not understand him if he spoke. The Nefarians were the lucky ones with their technology and their translation devices, but Virtuo had none of that and wouldn’t understand a god damned thing he was saying.

He locked eyes with Louise. Her eyes were filled with terror, asking him what they should do. Dan didn’t have an answer to that so he stayed silent as they were pushed in a random direction, supposedly towards the ‘Council’. His entire body was shaking and he tore his eyes away from Louise to stare at the ground. It was his fault that they’d gotten caught. It was his fault that he hadn’t been watching their surroundings and put Louise in trouble as well. They were most likely taking him to his death, unknowing that Dan was really just trying to bring their planets together.

But most of all, Dan had failed Phil. He’d gotten so close to success that he was too cocky and now it was Phil who had to pay the price.

-

The Council, as it turned out, was basically just the leader of Virtuo, the woman in charge of the entire planet and the war, along with a group individuals Dan supposed was the court. The women in charge was a beautiful woman with jet black hair, pale skin, and light blue eyes similar to Phil’s own. Dan supposed it would make sense considering they were the same race.

She cleared her throat as he and Louise were thrown into the middle of the room, and Dan tried not to lash out at the guards looking at them with disdain. He refused to hurt another Virtuous. Not when he was in love with one of them.

“Greetings, Nefarians.” If Dan had been holding something, he would have dropped it at the sound of the woman speaking his language. Did she understand them? “I am Queen Lucille. What has brought you to our lovely home planet?”

Louise glanced at Dan and he knew that he had to speak up then, taking a deep breath. Was he really going to tell his whole life story? Hopefully not. But he would definitely try his damnedest to get back to Phil as soon as he possibly could. He couldn’t get captured here.

“We came to get a part of the life gem to stop the war,” Dan said. His voice echoed in the elegant hall, making him sound more confident than he was. “Your Majesty,” he added as an afterthought, trying to hold back a grimace.

Queen Lucille hummed with amusement, her perfect eyebrow raised. “Is that so? And why would you want that?”

Dan gaped at her. Was she seriously asking why he’d want the war to stop? Was she stupid? He didn’t say that though. Instead, he tried to answer as calmly as possible. For Phil, he told himself. “A few months ago, my military captured one of your species for questioning. His name was Phil Lester.” Murmurs broke through the court and Dan cringed at the use of past tense. It made questions rise in Dan’s belly, uneasiness. Was Phil even still alive? “I was his prison guard so we spent a lot of time together. Before I knew it, I.. ultimately fell in love with him, I suppose.”

Silence. Dan outwardly cringed at the scrutinization. He sounded so dumb.

“He loves me too, I believe. We got caught by the higher ups of my planet and he got taken away from me. I was going to be exiled but before they could do so, he sacrificed himself and told them he had coerced me into doing as he said. Before he was taken away, he told me to find the stone.” Dan raised his hands, gesturing around himself. “So here I am.”

Queen Lucille laughed, shaking her head. She seemed dumbfounded. “And you expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true!” Louise protested then. She shut up when Lucille glared coldly at her as if the force of her hair had caused her to turn to ice.

“I don’t want to hear this nonsense,” Queen Lucille snapped and Dan’s entire stomach sunk to his feet. His palms began sweating and he felt tears burning angrily behind his eyes. “Take them to the dungeon.”

Dan gritted his teeth as one of the guards roughly grabbed his shoulder. “Wait, please! I beg of you!” His pride was swelling, screaming at him and telling him to back down. He couldn’t beg. That’s not what his kind did. “Please, he’s in the dungeons right now! I have to get him out; I promised him. I promised.” His last words were a mere whimper, his pride sizzling and burning his throat.

Lucille narrowed her eyes at him. “And why should I believe you?”

Dan took a deep breath. Please listen. “Because what sort of Nefarian begs to get a Virtuous out of their own planet’s jail?”

It was quiet for a long moment, and Dan felt as if his chest was constricting, as if his entire life was going to be over now if she told him no. He could feel his hands shaking and his lip was hurting from how hard he was biting it.

After what seemed like hours, Lucille spoke.

“Very well, then.” Dan’s mouth dropped open and he could feel the disbelief coursing through his veins. But she wasn’t finished, her eyes still distrusting and cold. “I will break the gem in half and restore life to your planet on one condition.” Dan held his breath and he was sure Louise was as well. “Once Phil Lester is released, he must return to Virtuo for the remainder of his life. If he does not return, the war will continue, and we will send an entire bounty out for your death.” She smiled at him, a toothy grin that had the undertones of malice. “Understand?”

Dan nodded frantically, his head spinning with all the information, hope growing in his chest. But then he froze as the rest of her words caught up with him. Phil was to return to Virtuo? Would that be the end of them, then?

Swallowing, Dan spoke up in a small voice. “I will do my best to have him return home safe. However, I would like to stay with him if that were possible, Your Majesty. I wish to be by his side as long as he will have me.” Dan ignored Louise hissing his name from shock and closed his eyes as a way to hide himself from the shocked stares of the Court. “Do I have your permission to follow Phil to Virtuo and become a resident if he so wishes?”

Lucille laughed, loud and surprised. Dan’s eyes squeezed tighter at the sound, his heart pounding in his ears. She was going to tell him no. What kind of Virtuo would want a Nefarian living on their land? The idea was ridiculous even to Dan’s ears, but he could deal with it. He could deal with the knowledge that he would have to be away from Phil as long as Phil was alive and well. That was all he truly wanted.

So when Lucille spoke, her voice soft, a large contrast to her previously taunting tone, Dan’s eyes flew open in shock. “Permission granted.”

-

The cellars were dark and Phil couldn’t remember being so cold in his entire life. He was bruised and bloody, his head spinning from the lack of food in his body, his ears ringing from being shocked multiple times. Phil had thought that Dan had been bad at the beginning, but that was nothing compared to this.

The guards didn’t go easy on him. They beat him and taunted him and tortured him until Phil’s vision was going black. His eyes were rimmed red and swollen from crying and he was sure his entire face was bruised, his wrists raw from where they were cuffed over his head.

He wanted Dan again. He wanted Dan to come take care of him, to tell him that everything was going to be alright and to fight away all of the other guards when they tried to lay a finger on him. He was tired of this, tired of being hurt. Tired of living.

At this point, he was sure he would be completely fine with the Nefarians killing him. It would be better than this fate, at least.

Phil didn’t know how long it’d been. The days and nights were melding together, and the lack of windows didn’t help with that knowledge. All he knew was that he could hardly sleep because of the pain, but he was so tired that he could barely stay awake.

The guards hadn’t come to visit him in a long time. It was taking them longer than usual to check up on him, to make sure that he was still alive and unwilling to give any information. Phil hoped it stayed that way, hoped that he would be able to sleep for long enough for the pain in his body to melt away into nothingness for a while. But of course, that’s when there was a loud clanging noise, and Phil’s entire body tensed in wait, eyes closed to accept whatever was coming for him.

What he didn’t expect, however, was a soft and familiar voice to be speaking to him. “Phil, Phil,” the voice said, and Phil didn’t dare open his eyes because he was fucking dreaming, hallucinating, and if he opened his eyes then that voice would be gone. “God, please tell me you’re okay. Please tell me you’re still alive.”

It was Dan’s voice, just how he’d remembered it, except softer. More open. Something had happened to wedge compassion into that empty heart and make it full of emotion. Phil’s lips quirked into a smile. This was a good dream. “Dan?” he whispered, eyes still shut.

Then there were hands on his face, touching the bruises and the cuts and making him wince in pain. Even though the touch hurt, the fingers were soft and caring. Phil’s lips quivered. Oh how he wished this was real and Dan was in his arms again. “It’s me; I’m here. You’re safe now.” Dan’s voice was raw with emotion, shaking slightly. It was so real that Phil almost believed he was awake. “Phil, please. Please look at me.”

Phil shook his head. “If I open my eyes, you’ll disappear,” Phil told him matter-of-factly. “I don’t want you to disappear. This is a nice dream.”

“Oh Phil,” Dan whimpered. “You’re not dreaming. I’m really, truly here.”

It was that voice, so sad and hurt, that made Phil open his eyes. To his disbelief, Dan did not disappear. He was there, real, with sad brown eyes and curling chocolate hair, his lips set in an upset frown. As soon as Phil met his gaze, tears welled in both of their eyes and Phil was sobbing as Dan messed with the cuffs around his wrists, trying to unleash him. It took him a few tries, but when he got there, Phil collapsed in his arms, burying his face in Dan’s neck.

He was sobbing, loud gasps and hiccups coming from his throat, and Dan was squeezing him so tightly that it hurt, but he didn’t care. Dan was here and he was real, kissing at his head and telling him that it was going to be okay. It was with that feeling of Dan in his arms that ultimately calmed him down to the point where Phil could produce coherent thoughts and slightly less coherent sentences. 

“I- what- how?” Phil asked, pulling away to look at Dan.

Dan smiled softly, and ran his thumb over Phil’s cheek, so gentle as if Phil was going to break under his touch. “I found the gem,” he said simply. “Queen Lucille agreed to cut the stone in half in order to free you.”

He launched into a monologue then, talking about how he’d gotten caught while trying to get the stone and how he had to talk Queen Lucille into giving him the stone. He told Phil how she let him go with the condition that Phil had to return home after he was released, how Dan could return with him if Phil so pleased (Dan seemed sheepish at the suggestion but Phil assured him that he would want nothing less). He then went on to talk about how he brought the gem to the Nefarian Court and gave them the shard in return for the release of all of the Virtuous locked in the prisons and for the war to end. Since the gem was the ultimate treasure for Nefaris, they agreed, albeit begrudgingly, and allowed Dan access to Phil’s chamber.

“I can’t believe you’d do all of that for me,” Phil admitted. His voice was still a bit thick from crying, but Dan didn’t seem to mind. He didn’t even seem to mind when he leant forward and kissed Phil though tears were smeared over his face. Dan’s lips were soft, just how Phil remembered. He tasted of home, of new beginnings, of hope. There were tears running down Phil’s face again from just the simple touch, and Dan was wiping at his cheeks as his lips worked against Phil’s own, holding him so tightly out of relief and awe. When they pulled away, both of their cheeks were bright red and Phil couldn’t help himself from smiling softly because Dan was here. Dan was alive. And maybe, maybe they could finally be together now.

“I’d travel galaxies for you,” Dan told him, grinning. He began to help Phil stand, but his legs were practically useless from not being able to use them. Phil ended up perched on Dan’s back while they made their way out of the dungeons, Phil burying his face in Dan’s neck and just breathing him in. “Now that I’m back,” Dan began, an obvious smile in his voice, “I have something wonderful to show you.”

Phil laughed, voice hoarse. “I’ll bet it can’t be as wonderful as having you back by my side.”

He barely had his words out before Dan was pushing the doors to the dungeon open. Immediately, Phil was rendered speechless.

Nefaris was known for being the dead planet, filled with black sands, dried shrubs, and an endless expansion of nothingness. But no longer was that held true.

In front of them, all Phil could see was green. There were high trees with large, fan-like leaves, fruits growing on them in small spurts of yellows and reds. There was blue streams of water that filled every crater in the world, lined with lush bushes with berries creeping out from the leaves. Phil could hear noises of animals unbeknownst to him calling out unfamiliar bellows, rustling through the leaves. Vibrant flowers floated on top of the water, giving the blue a splash of yellow and pink. Upon closer inspection, small creatures shining with golden fins swam through its depths, so peaceful and without a care in the world. Little strands of green grass were poking out of black sand, struggling free of the darkness below and into a new life of gentle winds and the kiss of morning dew. Even though the sky was forever black, the two moons lit the sky with brilliant golden rays, and suddenly, the world didn’t seem so dark anymore.

A new beginning of colour to wash away the darkness of the past.

**Author's Note:**

> I can’t believe I’m finally done with this story! I first started it in December of 2015 and now it’s nearly a year later and I’m actually finished with it! I have to say that this was probably the most difficult story I have ever had the pleasure of writing. So many times, I’ve felt as if it wasn’t good enough and like I could do it better, but I trudged through and finally got it up! Many thanks to Charlie (moondaniel) for being my wonderful beta. As soon as we started to message, we immediately clicked and I can now call him one of my closest friends despite being countries apart. I love you and thank you for being amazing. Thank you to latchart for the wonderful art! I love it so much and I think that is a beautiful portrayal of Virtuo! Extra thanks to Eliza (theinsanityplays) for listening to me rant about the story and giving me tips on how to expand and make everything better. You are my favorite person in the world. And finally, I’d like to give a shoutout to my roommate, Monique (kk-ska) for allowing me to talk about this fucking story for literally an hour. I couldn’t have done this without all of you and I love you all so much c:


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